Around the Farm: April 7

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday's performances by Indians prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday's game.

Cord Phelps - DH, Columbus: 3-for-3, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB.
A perfect night at the plate for Phelps with two walks and three hits to reach base in all five of his plate appearances. He fell a homer shy of the cycle and had a chance in the 9th inning to go for it but walked. It will be interesting to see how the Indians use Phelps in the field in the early going, and it appears like he will play everyday but rotate between second base, third base, left field, shortstop, and DH.

Dave Huff - LHP, Columbus: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K.
You can't ask for a better start from Huff than this, and this should do nothing but add some much needed confidence for not only him but also the organization and fans that maybe he is back. He is probably the first starter in waiting when a need arises at the big league level, and his performance last night should only improve that possibility. The only concern is the lack of strikes as in 84 pitches he threw just 46 strikes (55%).

Michael Goodnight - RHP, Lake County: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 3 K.
What a nice Lake County debut for Goodnight allowing just one hit and one walk in five strong innings of work. His defense let him down for three errors which resulted in the two unearned runs, but outside of that you could not ask for anything more in his first start of the season. He is a high profile draft signing from last year and has a lot of potential, so this is a good start to hopefully build momentum for a very good season.

• Lonnie Chisenhall - 3B, Columbus: 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, K. Okay debut for the Chiz at the plate, but he did have a fielding error at third.
• Jason Kipnis - 2B, Columbus: 1-for-3, BB. A good start reaching base in two of four plate appearances, and part of two key double plays in the field.
• Jordan Brown - LF, Columbus: 1-for-3, BB, K. Unreal that this is now Browns's FOURTH Triple-A season.
• Luis Valbuena - SS, Columbus: 2-for-3, 2B, BB, SB. Louie V does it all in the field, at the plate, and on the bases. Likely the first infielder called up to Cleveland.
• Kelvin De La Cruz - LHP, Akron: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R/ER, 4 BB, 7 K. De La pitched well enough to win last night but got no run support. While the 7 strikeouts are great, the 4 walks are bad.
• Nick Hagadone - LHP, Akron: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. A clean two innings of work for Hagadone...and no walks are great to see.
• Juan Diaz - SS, Akron: 1-for-4, 3B, K. The only offensive highlight all night for the Aeros as he just missed a homer that resulted in a triple.
• J.D. Reichenbach - LHP, Lake County: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R/ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Could Reichenbach be the next undrafted diamond for the Indians a la Frank Herrmann?
• Nick Bartolone - SS, Lake County: 2-for-4, 2 R, BB. Great night at the plate for the Captains leadoff hitter reaching base three times. Terrible night in the field with two errors.
• Giovanny Urshela - 3B, Lake County: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, BB. The defense is always superb, but the offense is an unknown. For one night at least he was the man at the plate.
• Jesus Aguilar - 1B, Lake County: 2-for-4, 3 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K. Biggest guy on the field leads the team with three runs scored.
• Alex Lavisky - C, Lake County: 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, BB. Lavisky was an extra base hit machine in spring training and it looks to have carried over into the start of the 2011 season.
• Argenis Martinez - 2B, Lake County: 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB. Martinez, Bartolone, and Urshela make for one incredible defensive infield, one of th ebest in the minors.

Follow Tony and the Indians Prospect Insider on Twitter @TonyIPI. Also, his latest book the 2011 Cleveland Indians Top 100 Prospects & More is available for purchase for $20.95 to customers in the US (shipping and handling extra).

Posted in: Around the Farm